Bergdorf Goodman store among longtime laggards

New York City panel considering sign, churches

Published 8:23 pm, Tuesday, February 23, 2016

The commission that decides which city buildings are worth preserving took a step Tuesday to protect 30 properties that have languished on a list of possible landmarks for years.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission's vote to recommend the 30 properties for landmark status was part of an effort to clear a backlog that had built up over decades.

"As the city's expert body on historic preservation, the commission has spent months analyzing testimony and conducting further research on these items," commission chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan said in a statement. "Our actions today represent an important step in addressing this backlog."

One property that will now be considered for landmark designation is the luxury Bergdorf Goodman store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Others include the Pepsi sign on the Queens waterfront, several churches and a YMCA in Harlem.

Most of the properties had been on the commission's calendar for 20 years or more. They were among 95 sites that were up for consideration.

"This charming historic house was the first and only structure ever built on this site and has remarkably survived subway construction, street widenings, the building of the Holland Tunnel, tremendous development pressure and any number of other urban transformations, which consumed so many of its neighbors," society president Andrew Berman said. "This survivor will now hopefully live for another two centuries or more."

The commission has promised a vote on the recommendations by the end of 2016 after a round of hearings.